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January 19th
ジョジョの奇妙な冒険7
28 - 66
Will tonight be the night I finally sit down and read until I tire? I read up until the point work might get problematic, but I wasn’t exactly starting with a lot of time anyway (15-20min before pumpkin time?). Things are about to get more gory too. I feel like the level of violence and gore that was in Shonen Jump is pretty whack, but it doesn’t seem to influence Japanese kids too much.
January 19th!
Today I finished chapter 48 of Shadows House, and then read chapter 3 of Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun., but I should be able to get back on track tomorrow.
Did some reading on my flight but also slept quite a bit. Now have a couple of lazy days in Bangkok. Will try to catch up a bit more. And continue with Age 22.
19/1 8 pages シャドーハウス (finished chapter 57), 18 pages Spy Family (short missions 1+2), 4 pages おばちゃんたちのいるところ(finished story 11).
PS this is for yesterday!
１月１９日 (Home Post Link)
After struggling a lot yesterday and then trying to start reading today and still struggling, I decided my brain had earned a day off from trying hard. Instead of stressing out about stuff, i just watched 菊次郎の夏, which had been on my list forever because 久石譲 (joe hisaishi) did the score.
I went into it pretty blind other than knowing who did the score, and I don’t have a ton of exposure to japanese cinema, so I don’t have a super good base to judge from. Overall, I really liked it. It was a bit clumsy at times (and some of the comedy was probably pretty crude, even for 1999), but I think that was probably intentional? These characters have real, serious problems, most of which aren’t solvable at an individual level, and the movie doesn’t try to give in to easy answers or empty platitudes to face them. All it tries to do is show that even in the face of a brutally cruel and lonely world, we can still find some temporary reprieve in kindness (even if that kindness is sometimes a bit bumbling). There was some cool camera work, the score was (obviously) phenomenal, and it made me feel good.
Read:
設備「せつび」ー facilities, equipment
グダグダー persistently, tediously
単純「だんじゅん」ー simple, uncomplicated
I don’t think this contains any spoilers but i will spoiler it just in case, i don’t know how the structure of the novels/manga differ from the structure of the show:
Even in the series up to that point, you’ve already seen how apparitions can definitely interact physically with people and with the world. They may be “ghosts” but they definitely aren’t just floating around aimlessly separated from the physical. I think there’s a distinction between 化け物 and 亡霊/幽霊? this hinative post seems to indicate there’s a real difference there and that they aren’t quite synonyms. This distinction also tracks with how i’ve seen it used generally, and how the show (i’ve only watched the show up to the end of 2nd season + kizu, books too hard for me atm) treats this class of beings.
1 月 20 日
コナの大冒険 第28話 
Here we encounter again words in katakana that have kanji equivalents like ヤギ (goat), オオカミ (wolf) and ケガ (injury). Thanks to @enbyboiwonder for the explanation. I guess I’ll just have to make do with accepting these as they are even with no valid reason 
January 19 Home Post
Read some more ノッキンオン・ロックドドア! I think I’m settling into it better, I read almost 30 pages which feels a bit more normal haha. But yes I finished off the first mystery; that’s another thing that’s a bit of a change, I haven’t read anything prose that’s episodic like that, kinda nice for feeling progress! It continues to be fun, the mystery shenanigans are interesting, and the character voices are a good time, all on brand for me really
I did also go on an adventure looking at a bunch of the novels I have to see if there were any that I could just pick up and read without lookups for reading on campus and such, and while I probably could in theory, the conclusion I came to is that there are none that interest me enough that I could read to a standard I’m happy with without looking things up sometimes. This isn’t shocking, my tolerance for not fully understanding something I really enjoy is much lower than my tolerance for lookups 
so I will continue as I am! I’ll get there one day 
Finished chapter 1 of Re:Zero 16. It isn’t BEYOND my level of comprehension but it is quite the workout. I am happy to be reading through it and hope the gains from this experience will pay off, but I am right on that edge of struggle and enjoyment. x_x
I am almost finished with Japanese short stories for beginners 1 (only because I have re-read a few of the stories a few times and I also plan to go through it again sometime) but I just purchased 3 more graded readers on Amazon to be delivered tomorrow and I am hella excited. Part 2 of this one, Japanese Stories for language learners (green cover) and Japanese folktales. Will see how it goes.
There is no general reason for katakana on words that aren’t loanwords. Sometimes it is the writing style of the author and other times it might just be a whim of the author. It can be convention, the way most people write it in manga/LN/specific domain. It can also be emphasis, just like italics/bold. I’m sure there is an author out there that have done it for some specific reason in a specific story.
Currently, I mostly ignore it. Some things I recognize a specific word as commonly written in katakana in manga/VN dialog. Half katakana and half hiragana seems to crop up for some specific words. For now, what I’ve seen seems to be mostly stylistic choice without any meaning behind it.
Reached first big illustration in 魔女の旅々, which means I’m about 13% overall in the book.
The answer here turns out to be “it just got stuck in their shipping facility and they didn’t notice”, but they have unstuck it and it ought to now proceed to get shipped. They gave me 300 free points, at least.
I also got an email from Kinokuniya about my other missing parcel – DHL are going to deliver whatever is in deliverable condition, and then K will refund me the shipping charge and the cost of the books that got lost in transit.
January 20th
Card Captor Sakura volume 7 – progress report
Yesterday: Continued up to page 38.
Today: Finsihed chapter 27 and chapter 28, continued up to page 128.
Had some time right now. Didn’t plan on reading that much but once I had started, I just kept going. 
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Word or expression of the day:
片付け - (かたづけ) - tidying up, finishing
Honourable mention(s):
緊張 - (きんちょう) - tension, mental strain, nervousness
January 19
Finished 2 ユージニア chapters (one of them was really short)(59% → 63%) and started the 3rd chapter of BU$TAFELLOWS, played about 45 min.
20th jan
蟲師 vol 3!! chapter one was a quick read this time, partly cos one of the main characters was unable to speak so there was less dialogue in general. a very folk-tale-y one, set in the mountains with a mysterious illness that affects everyone in the village and they’re blaming it on one of the girls, starting off on a not-depressing note for once! also love how ginko was absolutely playing matchmaker during this chapter, he’s a fun-loving guy when he gets the chance
words that stuck out: 錆 (さび, rust. you ever want this word to sink in, read this chapter), 空耳 (そらみみ, mishearing), 方角 (ほうがく, (cardinal) direction, way), and today’s what’s that kanji moment: 聲 which is an old version of 声
what a weird coincidence! partway through this chapter a character sends a short letter, but cos she doesn’t know how to write (but wants to do it herself) i assume ginko teaches her how to do it in katakana instead, cos it came out like this:
ハナスト オマエモ ヤマイニナル…イママデ ゴメン アリガトウ
i’ve added spaces where it goes to a new speech bubble
interesting little detail i think!
Day 19: January 19th 
名探偵コナン Volume 13 (44% ➨ 48%)
Hopefully I can pick up the pace on reading a bit over the weekend…
Day 19 Progress:
スロー ループ - 25話
Bad health habits have finally caught up to me and I’ve been violently ill all day. Don’t think I’ll be doing much reading for the next few days.
Word of the Day:
The Tanuki Kotatsu Reading Den
January 20th
新書太閣記 progress: 02.99% // Volume I: 34.61% 
It’s great how much personality Yoshikawa gives the samurai, the emotion really comes across in the speech. I wanted to read more, but don’t have anymore time today.
甥「おい」ー Nephew
奇策縦横「きさくじゅうおう」ー Ingenious scheme
鞴「ふいご」ー Pair of bellows
工夫「くふう」ー Devising a way; inventing; thinking up
Forms
肚 ＝ 腹「はら」(Stomach)
兇暴 ＝ 凶暴「きょうぼう」(Ferocious; savage)
Probably some spoilers, but this is a historic novel, so can spoilers really exist for things that have (for the most part) actually happened 
Main
Hideyoshi: 豊臣秀吉「とよとみ ひでよし」
– – – Childhood name: 日吉「ひよし」
– – – Childhood nickname: 猿「さる」
Volume I: 1535 - 15??
日吉「ひよし」- Hideyoshi (as child)
Nickname: 猿「さる」
Family
木下弥右衛門「きのした やえもん」- Father
筑阿弥「ちくあみ」ー Step-father
大政所「おおまんどころ」// also お奈加「おなか」ー Mother
おつみ - Older sister
小竹「こちく」- Baby brother
加藤清正「かとう きよまさ」// also 弾正「だんじょう」- Ojisan (only distantly related (before marriage))
– Married to: おえつ (sister of お奈加)
Friends & Acquaintances
仁王「におう」- Big kid friend
於福「おふく」(Nickname - full name: 福太郎「ふくたろ」) // 楊景福「ようけいふく」(Chinese name/birth name) - Timid kid friend (older than Hideyoshi)
– 五郎大夫 「ごろ だゆう」// 祥瑞「しょうずい」(Chinese name) - Father
– 梨琴「りきん」- Mother
捨次郎「すてじろう」- Previous servant to 五郎, later the adoptive father of 於福, and owner of a tea ware shop - and employer of, and master to, Hideyoshi
Others
織田信秀「おだ のぶひで」- Daimyo
– 織田与三郎「おだ よさぶろう」- Younger brother
今川義元「いまがわ よしもと」- Daimyo
斯波義統「しば よしむね」- Daimyo (head of the Shiba clan) at Kiyosu castle
Hachisuka Clan
蜂須賀小六「はちすか ころく」(also 正勝 「まさかつ」) - Head of the Hachisuka clan
– Married to 松波「まつなみ」
– – 亀一「かめいち」ー Son
Retainers:
– – 稲田大炊助「いなだ おおいのすけ]
– – 青山新七「あおやま しんしち」
– – 長井半之丞「ながい はんのじょう」
– – 松原内匠「まつばら たくみ」
– 渡辺天蔵「わたなべ てんぞう」- Nobushi (Nephew to Koroku)
– 国吉「くによし」ー Gunsmith/blacksmith
阿倍仲麻呂「あべ の なかまろ」ー Japanese scholar & poet (around 700AD)
白楽天「はく きょい」ー Late 700s Chinese poet (Bai Juyi / Bo Juyi) also known as: 白楽天「はく らくてん」in Japan.
道元「どうげん」(or 道元禅師「どうげん ぜんじ」ー Japanese Buddhist Priest, writer & poet (Early to mid 1200s) (also known as 栄西禅師「えいさい ぜんじ」)
空海「くうかい」ー The one and only Kukai or Kobo Daishi - a Buddhist monk. Posthumously given the title of: 弘法大師「こうぼう だいし」born as: 佐伯 眞魚「さえき の まお」(late 700s to early 800s)
源頼政「みなもと の よりまさ」ー Prominent poet and warrior (1100s)
Jan 20, Fri of Week 4 of Winter Q1 2023
Working in 異世界 and new odd (?) comrades.
January 19 
チュベローズで待ってる AGE32 , 14-26%
January 20
チュベローズで待ってる AGE32 , 26-36%
This second volume hasn’t won me over the way the first one did yet, and I’m already 1/3 in. Will things get better? I’m thinking of mixing it up and reading something else tomorrow, but I’m afraid I’ll be reluctant to come back to it. And I do want to finish it, the sooner the better. Decisions.
January 20
Home Post
BU$TAFELLOWS 
I finally finished chapter 1! 
But with so little read I felt compelled to start chapter 2 too, totally forgetting that Orange starts up again tomorrow. Should have just started that early. xD
I might get to some English novel reading too, but time is running away from me and I need to get to bed on time today. I had to sleep 9,5 hours to not be exhausted today, and I’d rather make sure to definitely have 8 hours and not get into more sleep deficit.
Seems my body is still either a bit jetlaggy or decided for other reasons it WANTS sleep.
This specific situation definitely feels like one of those emphasis times. xD
Dang, I wonder when I can get back to Sailor moon… 
If it happens before summer then I’ve thrown out my current reading plan.